The invention relates to maps made of paper, cardboard, or similar materials that are intended to be carried and handled by a user during the course of travel, for example. Various types of maps for this purpose are known in the art, and have seen widespread use for many year now. These include maps printed on a single sheet of paper that folds and unfolds to reveal various sections of the map, and maps bound into book for with various areas being mapped shown on different pages. With the former, it is well known that such maps are often times difficult to handle while travelling and once unfolded can be problematic to fold back to their original position. Thus, after repeated fold and unfold cycles, the map tends to get damaged and wear on the map takes its toll. With the latter, the user is often required to turn between numerous pages to locate a position on the map and often times, reference to various pages must be made. Thus, book-style maps can be confusing and difficult to hand as well.
Various modifications and improvements have been attempted over the years to improve upon these types of maps. However, some prior art maps prove expensive to manufacture and/or assemble, while others do not lend themselves to ease of use and carry while travelling.
One prior art map that attempted to address these problems was shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,348,038 to Peter Lynch—the inventor of the present invention. The '038 Patent discloses an improved map arranged from a number of folded sheets, that form a variation on the book style of maps. While the '038 map provides significant improvements over the prior art, its cost of manufacture prohibited widespread use.
Other prior art maps make it difficult to readily locate landmarks, or to provide detail portions of sections of the map while providing ease of use and handling of the map itself.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved map that addresses one or more of the aforementioned problems with the prior art.